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“But no one toldme,” Carter cries, hating how weak he sounds. “Ididn’t get to know there was an end date. That’s not fair!”
“I know. Fuck, I know kid. I - it was on me not to tell you. Don’t take it out on them. It was my decision. You’re a fucking awful liar, and you wear your emotions all over your face. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to play the part convincingly.” Maison releases a long, shaky sigh. “But that’s not an excuse. It’s - this is my fault. This is all my fault, Carter. I am so fucking sorry.”
“I hate you,” Carter whispers as the anger begins to seep out of him. He squeezes his eyes shut, swallowing a sob.
Maison releases a shaky breath. “I’m so sorry...”
“I wanna go home. Bring me home, Mais.”
The sound that comes from Maison’s end of the line is wrecked. It makes Carter ache, not just because he hates hearing his brother sound like that, but because he’s smart enough to know what that sound means. Sure enough, “Carter, bud, I - you gotta stay just a little longer, okay?”
“No.” Carter reaches up to his neck, feeling the collar there. It suddenly seems too tight. It’s strangling him. He starts to frantically tug at it, his hand shaking. He can’t breathe.He can’t fucking breathe.“Bring me home. I wanna go home. Bring me home, Maison.”
“Carter-”
“Do it!”
“Carter, I can’t. I can’t, bud. I - we - there’s just a little more left to do. We’re so close. We’re so fucking close to wrapping this whole thing up. You’re going to help save so many people, kid. I know that’s not what you want to hear and I know that’s not good enough, but it’ssomething. It - it has to be enough. We can’t get you out yet. Trust me. I’ve tried. Travis has tried.”
Carter swallows, the collar getting even tighter. “Travis… is Nathan.”
“Yeah.”
“How can you even talk to me right now?” Carter closes his eyes, his body overheated with shame. “You must know…everything.”
There’s a long pause. Then a soft sigh. “You mean that he’s in love with you?”
Carter scoffs. “I’m not an idiot. I figured it out already, Maison. The whole loving me thing was just him trying to make me happy.”
“Maybe at first, but not anymore. He loves you Carter. I can hear it when he talks about you. The asshole never told me you had fallen for him too, he kept that a secret, but I’ve known for a long time now that he’s in love with you. It’s fucking obvious.”
“People don’t rape the people they love.”
“Not in the real world, no. But in this world? Lines blur.”
Letting go of the collar strangling him, Carter curls into a ball instead. “Will I ever be able to talk to you again after this?”
“Yes. Every night if you want. Any time, really.”
“Okay.” Carter rests his head against his knees. His eyes fall closed. “I don’t want him to touch me anymore.”
Maison makes another one of those wrecked sounds. "In private, that's fine, but he's gotta stay your…masteraround the others. You have to pretend, Carter. The operation relies on it. Thousands - literallythousands- of trafficking victims like you rely on it. That's why we didn't tell you from the start. So you didn't have to worry about pretending…"
“That wasn’t your call to make.”
“I know… I’m sorry.”
Carter grits his teeth, already sick of those two words. “So, he’s not in charge in private, then?”
“Correct. And you two should talk now that you're aware of the situation. If there are certain things you need to be an absolute no to, and things you're more okay with, you can work together to tailor how he's treating you in front of others. That way it's at least slightly more bearable for you…"
“I don’t want to talk to you anymore right now,” Carter says quietly.
There’s a sniffle. Then, “Yeah. Of course. I get that, bud. Just… there’s an end to this, okay? And it’s coming soon. Very soon. Hold on until then. Don’t – God, please, Carter. Don’t hurt yourself, okay? Don’t give up. Survive this.”
“Yeah. Okay.” Carter starts to cry again.God, he’s so fucking sick of crying.“Goodbye, Maison.”
“Bye, baby brother. I love you.”
